
Jon Meacham: Bush Would Be 'More Barbecued' Than Obama for Touting NCA
Jon Meacham, the liberal host of PBS's "Need to Know," frankly admitted Thursday that media scrutiny of President Bush would far surpass the mild criticism of Barack Obama when it comes to a 10-minute ESPN segment on the President filling out his NCAA Tournament bracket.
Stalwart liberals such as MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski and California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom (D)…
March 17th, 2011 4:23 PM
Networks Ignore Faith-Based Groups in Japan Disaster Aid Coverage
An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan March 11 and the ensuing Tsunami wave delivered a devastating blow to the people, resources and economy of the U.S. ally. At this writing, a nuclear power plant there is on the verge of meltdown. As can be expected, it took a few days for the world and the American media to comprehend the complexity and gravity of the situation.
But two things were very…
March 17th, 2011 2:58 PM

Liberal Frank Rich Finally 'Gets Sick of His Own Voice,' Quits New Yor
Last Sunday, Frank Rich filed his last column for the Week in Review, “Confessions of a Recovering Op-Ed Columnist.” Rich is joining his friend and former Times Magazine editor Adam Ross at New York magazine.
Rich’s farewell is typically self-indulgent:
"My own idiosyncratic bent as a writer, no doubt a legacy of my years spent in the theater, is to look for a narrative in the many…
March 17th, 2011 2:33 PM
Equal Recall: Wis. Emailer Writes That Dems Are As Vulnerable As Repub
In the week since Wisconsin lawmakers passed collective bargaining-related legislation, much noise has been made about efforts to recall GOP Senators who supported the measure.
A Google News search on "Wisconsin recall" returns items that are overwhelmingly oriented towards Democrat efforts to recall Republicans. The final sentence of a March 13 Associated Press report by Sam Hananel…
March 17th, 2011 2:32 PM
Inconvenient Truth: Wind Energy Has Killed More Americans Than Nuclear
There has been quite a bit of hysteria among some major media outlets in the past few days regarding the potential dangers of nuclear power. Some have even suggested that the benefits of nuclear energy do not outweigh its potential dangers to human life.
The dangers of nuclear power, while serious, need to be put in perspective. To that end, here's an interesting fact you won't be hearing…
March 17th, 2011 1:43 PM

NYT: Jay Carney, 'Non-Partisan' Reporter Turned Obama WH Press Secreta
Thursday’s New York Times featured a puffball profile by Jeremy Peters of Jay Carney, the recently installed White House press secretary and former reporter for Time magazine undergoing a trial by fire in the wake of international crises. Carney left Time after the election to become communications director for Vice President Biden before getting his White House promotion.
The story headline…
March 17th, 2011 1:14 PM
ABC's Stephanopoulos Paints Tea Party With Birther Brush
ABC's George Stephanopoulos still doesn't understand the difference between the Tea Party movement and the birther movement.
On the March 17 edition of "Good Morning America," the former Bill Clinton campaign operative characterized Donald Trump's political maneuvering as an attempt to court the Tea Party by pandering to birthers.
March 17th, 2011 12:52 PM

MSNBC's Chuck Todd Spins for Obama on NCAA Picks: 'The Schedule Is the
MSNBC's Chuck Todd on Thursday fretted over the blame Barack Obama is enduring for making televised NCAA picks during the ongoing crises in Libya and Japan. After gushing over the President's basketball predictions on Wednesday, Todd followed up by lamenting, "Makes people wonder why anyone wants the job."
Talking to former Bush aide Tony Fratto, a defensive Todd argued, "[The White House…
March 17th, 2011 12:38 PM

CBS 'Early Show' Calls on Obama to Make Tough Decisions...On His NCAA
On Thursday's CBS Early Show, news reader Jeff Glor declared: "President Obama is ready for March Madness, it appears. He broke out the brackets at the White House yesterday and made his picks in the NCAA basketball tournament." However, he lamented how the commander in chief "Didn't exactly go out on a limb....For his Final Four he chose all number one seeds."
Only moments earlier, Glor…
March 17th, 2011 12:16 PM
Barbour Out on the Hustings
There are finally some rustlings on the hustings; you will pardon my attempt at poetry. Republican presidential hopefuls are moving about in Iowa and New Hampshire; does that clarify my admittedly amateur attempt at rhyme? I simply could not resist.
It was rather quiet out on the hustings a few weeks ago, and frankly, for me, it was a little gloomy. I have been saying for months that…
March 17th, 2011 11:38 AM

The Labor Department's Selective Transparency
President Obama in the opening days of his term made a showing of mandating openness in government. He even stated, “Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset.” He then directed department heads to implement his Open Government Directive. While this…
March 17th, 2011 11:37 AM

Newsweek Features Carville Mea Culpa: 'My Timing Was Off' With Predict
According to James Carville, his timing was simply a "little off" with a 2009 prediction that Democrats would rule for 40 years. The political operative and frequent guest on ABC appeared in the revamped Newsweek magazine to offer an apology for the inaccurate assertion.
The first-person piece in the March 21 issue included an admission that the title of his book, 40 More Years: How the…
March 17th, 2011 9:57 AM

Facing Defamation Lawsuit, NYT Finally Corrects Story That Smeared FBI
It took the threat of a defamation lawsuit, but the New York Times finally corrected a story from late February that accused FBI informant Brandon Darby of "encouraging" a plot to bomb the 2008 Republican National Convention, when in fact Darby was integral to law enforcement efforts to disrupt that plot.
The Times was aware of the error as far back as March 3, according to emails included in…
March 17th, 2011 9:55 AM

Deutsch: 'We've Got Some Damn Good Leaders In This Country
"Democrats on both sides of the Capitol say they have no idea where the White House stands or who’s running the show." -- Politico, 3-17-11
"Obama The Invisible: Anti-leadership Amid World Crises"--headline, John Podhoretz column, NY Post, 3-15-11
With the Hamptons beach season looming, has Donny Deutsch let working on his abs get in the way of watching what's going on in the White House…
March 17th, 2011 8:30 AM